Chapter 27 - Ashton Has No Idea...

After a couple of shots, Ashton pulled Akira's hands from his arms and moved right next to Ava. He then handed over his cellphone to Akira, "do you mind taking a couple of shots with just me and Ms. Ava? I'm a huge fan, and I would like to have a keepsake as well." His eyes sparkled as he looked at her with a broad dimpled smile.

Ava stared at Ashton in confusion after hearing what he had said. Who is he kidding? A fan? Yea, right! But, she didn't say anything and let him put his arms around her shoulder before pulling her closer to him.

Ava's heart started pounding, but she didn't let it show on her face. Instead, she only smiled for the camera and gestured with a peace sign.

*Click! Click! Click*

Then it was over, and Ava briskly pushed Ashton away from her as if he had some kind of infectious disease.

That earned a raised brow from Ashton for a moment, but he was quick to recuperate from the shock. He could only watch as she moved on the other side of Pearl, who was envious. She also wanted a picture with just her and Ashton, but she didn't know how to approach the subject.

Just as she found her courage and was about to ask for the picture, the rest of the EXODUS group came out of the fitting rooms happily chatting.

"Ashton, we need to go... Aren't you going to get anything?" Brian, one of the members, asked as they approached.

"Yea! Hurry, we only got a few minutes left." Interject Cain, followed by Dion and Shane, the rest of the members.

Ashton hesitantly excused himself and let his group members entertain them while he talked to Sato. Before leaving, he gave Ava a quick glance; he wanted to get her number. However, he couldn't do it in front of everyone. So he decided he would ask his sister later when he gets a chance.

While Ashton was speaking with Sato about his outfits, the rest of the group members let the girls have their picture taken with them, along with Prince Edmund, who looked like an idol himself.

Prince Edmund's assistant and Chupsy took the pictures for them, and by the time Ashton came back to have a couple of final group pictures, it was time for EXODUS to leave.

They happily bid the girls goodbye while Pearl was over the moon and couldn't contain her excitement, knowing she would be seeing them again in a couple of hours.

Sato only waved goodbye at the girls trying to be inconspicuous. Akira did the same thing and only waved at Sato before turning her attention to her brother and winking.

===

Chupsy hurried the girls to finish their shopping so they could go back to the Royal Academy to get ready for the concert. The children followed and hastily grabbed all the articles of clothing that they had chosen and handed them to the sales ladies that were standing by.

No sooner than they arrived back at the Royal Academy, someone from Ms. Williams's office came to bring in envelope attention to Ava. Mary, who was guarding the front door, accepted it before quickly handing it over to Ava, who was getting ready for the night.

When Ava opened the envelope, her mouth gawked. There were 4 VIP placards with lanyards for the 'EXODUS' concert. She quickly went out to the living room while calling Akira and Pearl to come out.

"Akira!!! Pearl!!! Come out here! There's something you need to see!" She hollered as the others came out of their rooms.

Akira came out wearing only a bathrobe and a headband on her head while holding a toothbrush in one hand, "What's up!" She hollered back as she came out of her room.

Ava raised one of the VIP placards with a lanyard to show Akira. "Look! Isn't this nice!" She said while smiling from ear to ear. Just in time, Pearl came out still with a face mask on her, also wearing nothing but a bathrobe.

She hastily ran over to where Ava was standing and grabbed the VIP placard from her hand, "No way!!! This is awesome! We already had VIP tickets, but not like these! These are VVIP!" She was jumping with joy while twirling around, holding the VIP placards in her hand.

Chupsy and Pisces, who were in the room resting a bit before they needed to head out, heard the commotion and came out to see what was happening.

When they saw the VIP placard that Pearl was holding, they understood why she was screaming like a hyena. So they turned around and went back to their room, both shaking their heads.

The three girls each took one of the VIP placards leaving one inside the envelope for Prince Edmund to give to him later when they departed.

Once Akira was inside her room, she swiftly grabbed her cell phone and called facetime her older brother to thank him. Luckily, Ashton was alone in his room and had not yet gone down to the venue where the concert will be held.

"Hi!" He smiled sweetly.

"Did you arrange for the VVIP placards for us? You're so sweet, thank you, I love you!" She didn't even greet him; she just went straight to thanking him for his deed.

"I know you probably have a VIP ticket already, but that's only for meet and greet along with other fans. I wanted to be able to have a private conversation with you. I missed you so much." Said Ashton lovingly to his baby sister.

Akira's eyes rolled, "Yea, right! Me or Ava, your idol! You better not hit on her, or I will tell mom and dad." She threatened while her finger was pointing at Ashton on the screen.

Ashton laughed out loud in return. As much as he wanted to hit on her, he knew better. He vaguely remembered that 8 years ago, his twin brother James went to the Philippines to meet his intended five-year-old Ava.

It was a taboo conversation inside their home now, but it still always hung heavily in the air. Ava would be his sister-in-law when the time came.

Unknown to him that the buck had been passed to him already, he was to be her future husband when the time came....